And now to the last part – actual “software tools” tools. You may want to catch up on Part 1, and Part 2 before you continue.
I’m not a tool girl, too lazy for that (no, I’m not proud of it, but this is a reality I’m living with), so I only use what I can get anywhere with without much efforts and/or is worth the additional time required to install and configure it. So that would be a pretty short list, but these are tools I use constantly and love doing so.
1) Notepad
A simple Microsoft Notepad, without any fancy formatting. I use it all the time! If some day Microsoft makes another WordPad of it (like Apple did with their TextEdit), I’ll probably have to downgrade to a terminal text editor like a built-in FAR editor or something. Hope it won’t come to that!
2) Workflowy.com
I Learned about this just the other week, and it turned out to be a perfect replacement for Google docs! It’s a powerful but very user-friendly online text (or should I say “list”?) editor. No formatting except of list structure and URL automatic underlining. Easy to navigate through, supports tags and search. Only works online though, so it’s not a replacement for notepad.
3) Paintbrush
Or built in screenshot maker (Windows 7+ and MacOS both have such tools) – enough for fulfilling most of my screen-shooting tasks.
4) Putty
The SSH client that also enables you to send and get files to and from a server if you have access to it. I use it all the time in testing client-server software. Doesn’t need installation (you can run it from flash drive).
5) Command/Terminal
Whatever console application is installed on a computer.
6) ADB and Mercury
Two irreplaceable tools for testing android applications. ADB is a part of the android SDK. It enables you to do everything you need with a device: get logs and screenshots, transfer files, install/uninstall packages, check system status, go to shell mode on the device. Mercury provides scripting instruments to do security testing. It comes with few scripts, so you can simply run them and make sure your application is protected from most common attacks.
7) FreeMind
A Java tool for creating mind maps. Cross-platform. Doesn’t need installation.
8) Fiddler
A proxy server enabling you to sniff traffic from a smartphone or a desktop. I also use it to emulate server responses I need (e.g. different network problems or corrupted data).
9) Eclipse/MS Visual Studio
I must admit, I love Visual Studio. But eclipse is very good too, and it’s also free and easy to configure. I use it for writing any automation I need since I don’t usually use commercial ready-to-use tools like Selenium. Perl goes here too, but I personally don’t use it much.
10) MS Excel
I use it for calculations and for keeping test documentation (checklists, test cases, test matrixes) when I have to. It’s also a great tool to process and generate test data if you test software that can receive input in files instead of multiple input fields.
That’s about it. Of course sometimes I use other tools to help with my testing, but those are mostly one-time things. It’s nice to know they are out there, but they don’t help me much. This is probably because I’m a hardcore manual tester, and when I automate, I automate with pure code, not with some fancy framework, doing half of the job for you. Not that I’m against software doing the job for me, but somehow it’s always more effective to just write the code. Also I feel that when I use some advanced software, I concentrate more on the software itself, than on the task at hand. When I use e.g. Notebook, there is nothing to drag my attention from actual testing.
It probably works differently for everyone. What are your favourite applications to use while you test? Do you have your individualized toolbox on you all the time (e.g. on a flash drive, or on a virtual machine somewhere), or do you install everything you need on a system you have to use at the moment? Maybe there are some great web applications you can recommend? Please do share. It’s always great to enrich each other’s toolboxes.
About the Author
Viktoriia Kuznetcova is a Russian tester soon to relocate to New Zealand and start afresh there. She currently works as a software tester for mobile applications at Yandex, a major Google competitor in Russia. During her nine years in IT Viktoriia tried roles of a manual tester, an automation tester, a test lead and a product manager. She is a strong supporter and a practitioner of exploratory testing.
You can follow her on Google+ or on twitter (@miss_hali).
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